I was 19 years old,already a teen mum.I found myself pregnant again.The man responsible had visited from another town and had taken me to a nice resort.I assumed he had protection but he didn’t and scolded me for not having brought any.Hie ‘social standing’ didn’t allow him to buy condoms,neither in pharmacies nor supermarkets nor convenient shops and I should have known that.To please him and make him forgive me for my stupidity and not abandon me,I let him have his way with me unprotected.I still didn’t know about alternative contraception so I just waited anxiously for my period to come.When It didn’t, I was in full panic mode ,my child was just over 6 months old,how would I explain being pregnant again?I told him that my period was late and he said I had to get rid of it He gave me $50 and said I should be rid of it before I contacted him again.I reached out to a cousin,who took me to a friend of hers who had access to a pill I could use. It cost $50,all I had to do was insert it into my vagina and wait for the bleeding and I’d be rid of the foetus.For some reason the pill did not work.I waited for days after inserting the pill but no blood came.He said I had to buy a second pill but I had only been given $50 and couldn’t afford another one.He said he could give me,on condition I gave him sexual favors afterwards. I agreed,I couldn’t afford to not abort,whatever the cost.The bleeding happened with the second pill but I dodged this guy for a long time afterwards to avoid the sexual favor I owed him for providing the cytotec pill.Whenever I bumped into him,he would threaten to out me about what I did and so I lived in fear for a very long time.I eventually told him we would both be in trouble for the incident if I reported and in the end he left me alone.I struggled to get over the abortion as I couldn’t talk to anybody about it.

I’ve grown to understand the importance of reproduction education and a safe space for vulnerable teens and women.Access to safe health facilities for those in need of abortion services.